CHEW   

BITE so as to CAUSE TO BECOME TENUOUS, OFTEN:typically INTENDing to EAT. 
MUNCHCHOMPCHAMPCRUNCHNIBBLEGNAWEATCONSUMEFORMAL MASTICATEMANDUCATE
Old Chinese Criteria
It is interesting to note that all the words below are only rarely used to mean "chew" in ancient Chinese texts. And most words seem to belong more naturally into the group BITE. 1. Jué 嚼 and jǔ 咀 are rare and late words for "to chew", but jǔ 咀 also has a more general meaning "to eat". 2. Shì 噬 focusses on intense mastication and biting into food, and the word often includes the meaning of swallowing what one has chewed intensely. 3. Yǎo 咬 merely refers to the biting into something, and secondarily the chewing over of it, but the word never refers to swallowing. 4. Bǔ 哺 is first attested in TANG and involves a very mild degree of mastication or chewing, and often includes semantically the subsequent swallowing of food.
Modern Chinese Criteria
嚼 is the current modern word for to chew. 咀嚼 jǔjué is a more literary word which has many figurative meanings. 反芻 refers to regurgitation. 倒嚼 is a more colourless term for regurgitation. rough draft to BEGIN TO identify synonym group members for analysis, based on CL etc. 18.11.2003. CH /
Hypernym
  • BITE CUT into something USING ONE'S TEETH. (anc: 13/0, child: 1)
  • CUT DISPLACE a SHARP INSTRUMENT INTO a THING. (anc: 12/0, child: 9)
  • DISPLACE CAUSE to MOVE. (anc: 11/0, child: 28)

Words (8 items)

  shì OC: djads MC: dʑiɛi 1 AttributionWD

Shì 噬 focusses on intense mastication and biting into food, and the word often includes the meaning of swallowing what one has chewed intensely.

    Syntactic words
  • vtoNgnaw, chew (and swallow)
𠯍  rán MC: -- OC: -- 1 AttributionWD
    Syntactic words
  • vi.red:adVdescriptive of gluttonous chewing: self-indulgentlyLZ
  yǎo OC: ŋɡreewʔ MC: ŋɣɛu 1 AttributionWD

Yǎo 咬 merely refers to the biting into something, and secondarily the chewing over of it, but the word never refers to swallowing.

    Syntactic words
  • vtoNchew over, chew on undecorously; rare: HANSHU: shihuozhi, shang 易子而咬其骨 gnaw (as bones of each other's children)
  jiào MC: dzjewH OC: dzews 1 AttributionWD
    Syntactic words
  • vt[oN]to chew thingsLZ
  jǔ OC: sɡaʔ MC: dzi̯ɤ 0 AttributionsWD

Jué 嚼 and jǔ 咀are rare and late words for "to chew", but jǔ 咀 also has a more general meaning "to eat".

    Syntactic words
  • vtoNpost-Han: chew
  rán OC: njam MC: ȵiɛm 0 AttributionsWD
    Syntactic words
  • viactchew
  bǔ OC: baas MC: buo̝ 0 AttributionsWD

Bǔ 哺 is first attested in TANG and involves a very mild degree of mastication or chewing, and often includes semantically the subsequent swallowing of food.

    Syntactic words
  • viacthave food in the mouth, chew
  jiáo OC: dzewɡ MC: dzi̯ɐk 0 AttributionsWD

Jué 嚼 and jǔ 咀are rare and late words for "to chew", but jǔ 咀 also has a more general meaning "to eat".

    Syntactic words
  • vt(oN)chew the contextually determinate object N
  • vtoNchew